Critic Reviews

Atomic Robo-Kid Special is a phenomenal 2D shooter on a system known for its phenomenal 2D shooters. Just because this arcade shooter doesn't have a big name, that's not reason to avoid one of the console's very best action games. With its innovative gameplay, exciting boss battles and tension-filled close combat fire fights, Atomic Robo-Kid Special is a game that no shooter fan should go without.

Add some brilliant graphic touches (the cartoon-like spiral of red balls which gradually obscures the whole screen when you or a major foe dies, for example) to the totally brilliant — and exceedingly tough — gameplay, and you've got a true cutesy classic, a potential cult hit of the year. If you don't enjoy Robo Kid, friend, there's something seriously amiss with your pleasure nodes.

Unlike Dragon Breed's, these visuals aren't going to knock you backwards - but what Robokid loses in graphics, it more than makes up for in playability, and that's what shoot-'em-ups ought to be all about. Robokid is addictive, enormously entertaining and has enough levels to keep you coming back over and over again. The scrolling and graphics mightn't excite as much as other games in the genre, but it's the gameplay that matters most.

It may resemble a scrolling Cybernoid but Atomic Robokid is nowhere near hot enough for a nuclear meltdown. Sure, some of the backgrounds are very pretty – the C64's are especially impressive – and with 28 levels you do get good value for money. But the simple blasting gameplay is repetitive and, although reasonably playable, somehow lacks any thrill factor.

t may resemble a scrolling Cybernoid but Atomic Robokid is nowhere near hot enough for a nuclear meltdown. Sure, some of the backgrounds are very pretty – the C64's are especially impressive – and with 28 levels you do get good value for money. But the simple blasting gameplay is repetitive and, although reasonably playable, somehow lacks any thrill factor.

That little robot with the big hooter is back, and out to do away with more alien scum in this conversion of the UPL coin-op. Graphically and audiowise, ARK is fine, but the gameplay is a bit too frustrating to be completely enjoyable,

Atomic Robo-Kid has some of the best graphics that the Genesis has produced and the combination of action and shooting is laid out well. Robo-Kid is different from other shooters in many ways, so don't come expecting anything less than huge Bosses and intense firepower!

At first, Atomic Robo-Kid seems like a welcome deviation from the basic horizontal shmups that have littered the Genesis over the past year. Don’t be fooled. The Kid is a poorly designed protagonist for such a claustrophobic shoot-em-up. Rather than construct stages around his considerable frame – stages that would make him a character you want to control – the developers were content to shove the oversized Kid into small areas in order to raise the game’s challenge. Save for the awesome Robo-Kid V. Robo-Kid battles, there’s nothing here that warrants his creation; replace the Kid with a ship and the limited stage design becomes all too apparent. Like so many character-driven games that would come after him, Atomic Robo-Kid hides behind its boardroom-created character for meaning and worth. No would-be mascot should have to bear such a burden.

In the end, Atomic Robo-Kid didn't live up to its own ambitious aspirations. The lethal mixture of slow and frustrating gameplay, combined with the poor level design made the game more agonizing than it should have been. I guess having a trash can on the cover proved more than slightly prophetic.

And who could forget the pointless plot pieces that crop up as we thrill to the ever cute-cum-bad ass Robo-Kid, anticipating his next carbon copy Governor battle? Not I, try though I might! There are plenty old school Genesis shooter gems, and Atomic Robo-Kid most certainly is not one of them. You haven't played it before have you?--keep it that way.